Breaking down Nevada men's basketball's non-conference and Mountain West schedules

by Nevada Athletics

Tuesday, June 12th 2018

Breaking down Nevada MBB's schedule

RENO, Nev. — The Mountain West announced on Monday the 2019 conference men's basketball schedule. Watch the video above to see Brenna Greene break down both Nevada men's basketball's conference and non-conference schedules, plus hear her opinion of the chances that the Pack plays Gonzaga during the non-conference slate this season. Below is the press release from Nevada Athletics about the Pack's conference schedule.

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The Mountain West announced its 2019 conference men's basketball schedule today. Nevada has won the last two MW regular season titles under head coach Eric Musselman, who was named the 2018 MW Conference Coach of the Year.

The Pack went 15-3 last season and 14-4 in 2017 to become just the second school to win back-to-back outright MW regular season titles. No MW team has won three consecutive outright MW regular season titles.

The 18-game conference schedule is comprised of home-at-home games with eight schools and single games with two MW members. The Pack will play single games at Wyoming and at home against San José State in 2019.

Nevada begins its defense of its MW regular season title at home on Jan. 2 when Utah State comes to Lawlor Events Center where the Pack went 14-1 last year, 8-1 in conference play. The Pack will host San José State Jan. 9, Air Force Jan. 19 and Colorado State Jan. 23 the first month of the season. Four January road contests are Jan. 5 at New Mexico, Jan. 12 at Fresno State, Jan. 16 at Boise State and the first of two meetings with intrastate rival UNLV is slated for Jan. 30 in Las Vegas.

Seven MW contests will be played in the month of February with four being played at Lawlor Events Center against Boise State Feb. 2, New Mexico Feb. 9, Fresno State Feb. 23 and the second meeting with intrastate rival UNLV on Feb. 27. Road games are at Colorado State Feb. 6, the only meeting of the season with Wyoming is Feb. 16 in Laramie, Wyo. and the final road game of the month is at San Diego State Feb. 20.

March starts with road games at Utah State Mar. 2 and at Air Force Mar. 6. The final MW game of the season is with San Diego State Mar. 9 in Reno. The MW Championships is scheduled for Mar. 13-16 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

The schedule dates are not final as Wednesday games may be shifted to a Tuesday and Saturday's could slide to Sunday to accommodate television. Times and television networks will be announced at a later date.

Nevada has announced two neutral site non-conference games versus Arizona State Dec. 7 in the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and Dec. 9 versus Grand Canyon in the Jerry Colangelo Classic being played at the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Ariz. Both arenas are home to NBA teams.

Two non-conference road games have also been announced with the first being at Loyola University Chicago on Nov. 27 in a rematch of the 2018 Sweet 16 game won by the Ramblers 69-68 in Atlanta. The game is part of the 2018 Challenge Series that matches teams from the Mountain West and Missouri Valley Conference. The Pack will play a second Pac-12 opponent on Dec. 1 making the first of two trips to Los Angeles to face USC at the Galen Center.

The remainder of the non-conference schedule will br released after it is completed.

Nevada returns the MW Player of the Year in Caleb Martin and the MW Defensive Player of the Year in twin brother Cody Martin. Jordan Caroline, a first-team All-MW selection and 2018 MW Championship MVP returns for his senior season. Senior Lindsey Drew, who joined Caleb Martin on the MW Defensive Team, is recovering from an achilles tear he suffered near the end of the regular season at BSU. Josh Hall, who made the winning shot in the Pack's 22-point comeback victory over Cincinnati in the NCAA Tournament returns for his junior year. The Pack returns five of its top six scorers in Caleb Martin (18.9 ppg), Caroline (17.7 ppg), Cody Martin (14 ppg), Drew (8.1 ppg) and Hall (6.9 ppg).

The returners will be joined by a talented group of newcomers led by McDonalds All-American and five-star forward Jordan Brown. Four transfers who sat out last season include 6-7 senior forward Tre'Shawn Thurman (Omaha), 6-3 senior guard Corey Henson (Wagner), 6-2 junior guard Nisré Zouzoua (Bryant) and 5-10 junior guard Jazz Johnson (Portland). Graduate transfer Trey Porter is a 6-10 forward that joins the Pack from Old Dominion and is immediately eligible to play his senior year this season. A pair of freshmen big men will make their way to Reno this season in 6-11 K.J. Hymes and 6-9 Vincent Lee.

Men's Basketball season ticket deposits are now on sale. Deposits allow fans to gain advanced access to season tickets before they go on sale to the public. All fans who place a deposit will have the opportunity to personally select seats during our annual select-a-seat event in Lawlor Events Center at the end of June. You may purchase a deposit by visiting NevadaWolfPack.com/MBBDeposits or call 775-348-PACK (7225).